Matt O’Brien, Director of ResearchFederation for American Immigration Reform

With thanks to the late Ecologist Garrett Hardin...

Our ship has sunk, but we have fortunately succeeded in clambering into a lifeboat. There are 50 in the lifeboat with us, and room for another 10. But the lifeboat is surrounded by hundreds treading water and crying out for help.

We are now faced with some life-and-death ethical dilemmas:

Do we allow everyone to clamber into the sanctuary of our lifeboat until the lifeboat sinks? Do we paddle among those in the water until we find ten strong enough to help row the boat? Do we toss those over the side who, in spite of our demands to the contrary, keep hauling swimmers into the lifeboat?The United States relies on the labor of illegal immigrants to grow its food, cook its food and wash its dishes. Because this reliance has been so great, for so long, the nation has lost its ability to manage all the immigrants who clamber freely into the country.